In the manufacture of electronic devices, it may be common for a manufacturer to provide several or many variants of the same basic products. In certain cases the variant of the product may only differ in the type of software that controls the device.
In the case of mobile phones, for example, the physical design of the phone may be the same for all variants of a product, but some of the basic control features may operate differently. Typically, each customer of the manufacturer, typically a service provider, requires a different variant type having different control features. These basic control features could include wake-up graphics, default network settings, hiding or displaying control menu items, subscriber identity module (SIM), lock setting and encryption/decryption features.
Reworking of variants has become a commonplace practice in the manufacture of large-volume products, such as mobile phones. Because of inaccurate sales forecasts, large numbers of one or more variants may be stored in a distribution center as increased inventory. Existing mobile phones created of one variant type may then need to be converted quickly to a variant of another type for use by another service provider. Also, when a mobile phone is repaired, the repair may be done by replacing the transceiver unit of the phone with a standard transceiver. This standard transceiver unit then would have to be converted quickly and easily to the variant used by the service provider for which the phone was originally intended, or if the phone is placed back in general stock, to one of one or more variants used by other service providers.